Pandolfo Petrucci

Pandolfo Petrucci (14 February 1452-21 May 1512) was a ruler of Siena during the Renaissance.

Biography
Pandolfo Petrucci was born and raised in Siena, but he was exiled from the city in 1483 for his opposition to the ruling family. In 1487, he returned to Siena and became captain of its city guard in 1495, and he assumed all of his brother Giacoppo's offices and wealth after his death two years later. Petrucci became the most powerful man in Siena after selling public offices to his lackeys, and he even had his own father-in-law murdered for plotting to overthrow him. Petrucci ruled Siena as its absolute tyrant, but he improved the economy, advanced art, and avoided war with the Republic of Florence. Petrucci secretly plotted against Cesare Borgia, and he was forced to flee Siena in January 1503 to appease him. He lived in Lucca for two months, but King Louis XII of France restored him to power. After Cesare's death in 1507, Petrucci was once more one of the strongest men in Italy, siding with Pisa against Florence; he was forced to give Montepulciano to the Florentines by Pope Julius II in 1512 in exchange for his nephew becoming a cardinal. Petrucci died in 1512.